Dr. Robert Epstein: Six Reasons Mark Zuckerberg Should Quit Facebook Right Now

Alex Wong/Getty Images26 Jun 2018

Dr. Robert Epstein, a senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, recent published six reasons that Mark Zuckerberg should quit Facebook.

In a recently published article, Epstein outlined six reasons why Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg should quit his company. These reasons included his vast wealth, which means he no longer has to work whatsoever and could focus on philanthropic efforts, the interest he has expressed in running for the presidency, his companies poor track record when it comes to his social media platform’s security, and the recent rampant data-sharing scandals that Facebook has dealt with in recent years.

Here are some of Epstein’s reasons for suggesting Zuckerberg step down as CEO of Facebook:

1) Fifth in the world. Zuckerberg’s net worth is now estimated to be $74.2 billion, making him the fifth richest person on earth. Wouldn’t this be a great time for him to rehabilitate his image by becoming one of the world’s most beloved philanthropists? Zuckerberg vs. Gates: Who can give more?

Later in the article, Epstein claims that Facebook’s business model is flawed:

5) The flawed business model. One of the issues members of Congress raised with Mr. Zuckerberg was the company’s questionable business model, which I call the “surveillance business model.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal and others refused to be misled, noting the obvious: Companies like Apple sell actual products, but the only product Facebook sells is us. It uses its social networking platform, along with millions of “Facebook Pixels” — invisible bits of tracking software spread throughout the internet — to collect information about billions of people even when they’re not using Facebook, and then it leverages that information to sell ads.

Epstein also warned that the longer Facebook continues to operate in it’s current state, the higher the chance is that the company will eventually fail:

6) Whistleblowers and warrants. But the most important reason Mr. Zuckerberg needs to step down is because of ominous signs: the celebrities, whistleblowers, investigators, former Facebook executives, and company co-founders who have lately been saying, “I have a bad feeling about this.”